RSK Group acquires HV Energy Systems to strengthen high-voltage grid connection capability

RSK Group has acquired HV Energy Systems (HVES), a specialist independent connection provider delivering high-voltage grid connection infrastructure for renewable energy and energy storage projects across the UK.

The acquisition reinforces RSK’s focus on end-to-end delivery across renewables, energy storage and wider infrastructure. It strengthens the group’s integrated service offer, while retaining HVES’s delivery-led operating model.

Full life cycle of grid connections

Bristol-based HVES is National Electricity Registration Scheme accredited and delivers grid connection projects across the UK, including turnkey design-and-build services. It focuses on technically complex high voltage (33kV – 132kV) and extra high voltage (up to 400kV) connections. Services include detailed design and engineering, procurement, project management, construction, installation, commissioning and energisation.

Senior leaders focused on a delivery-led, engineer-driven model

The HVES team of 24 operates a delivery-led, engineer-driven model, with senior technical leaders closely involved from early-stage design through to commissioning. This approach reduces design iterations, accelerates approvals with distribution network operators and mitigates execution risk during construction.

A key differentiator is HVES’s modularised and containerised substation solutions, which enable significant elements to be assembled and tested off-site. This reduces on-site labour, shortens construction programmes and supports safety and quality. Standardised engineering templates, particularly at 33kV and 132kV, also support repeatability and scalability as volumes increase.

Increased scale and access to a wider network

HVES Managing Director Craig Steven and Technical Director Louis Wright, who founded the business and will continue to lead it, said: “We are excited to be joining RSK Group. This partnership will strengthen the service and support we deliver to clients, backed by increased scale and access to a wider network. For clients and colleagues, it is business as usual: you will continue to work with the same team and receive the same level of service, underpinned by the trusted relationships we have built.”

Strategic fit with RSK Group’s renewable energy focus

RSK Chief Executive Officer Alan Ryder said: “The highly skilled HVES team will add significant value to RSK’s energy transition services and we are very pleased to have them join the group and work alongside some outstanding multidisciplinary colleagues on a range of important energy projects.

“HVES’s capability is particularly valued by renewable energy developers, for whom grid connection is both technically complex and schedule-critical. Delays to energisation can materially affect projects, increasing the importance of delivery certainty and proven technical capability. This makes the HVES team a crucial element in the success of projects that contribute greatly to UK energy security.”

HVES counts leading UK renewable energy developers and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) businesses among its clients. Recent projects include:

• 132 kV grid connections for utility-scale co-located solar photovoltaics and battery energy storage systems (BESS)
• 33 kV modular substations for distribution network operator adoption
• 33 kV/400 V auxiliary power skid-mounted substations for high-demand BESS critical power supplies.

HV Energy Systems was advised by FRP Advisory (corporate finance) and Osborne Clarke (legal).